Crew Log for December 22nd – 31st, 2022
Trip Summary:
• Fort Pierce to Lake Worth
• Trip Distance of 43.3 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 2,459.4NM
• Departed at 07h00, arrived at 15h00
To say I was happy we were leaving Fort Pierce would be an understatement. We got a lot done, but the marina staff really didn’t make us feel welcomed and so I had no interest in spending another minute here. There was a weather system expected to roll in on Friday, so we wanted to get ahead of it.
As was the case with our arrival in Fort Pierce, the currents leaving the marina were very strong and made it tricky to maneuver out of the narrow channel entrance. Once we got out on to the ICW we pushed towards Lake Worth, where we would stay until we crossed to the Bahamas. While it was exciting to be finally reaching our staging point, we were a little sad that we would be likely spending Christmas alone on anchor.
I have mentioned before that Florida was our least favorite section of the ICW. On the plus side, it is straight, and so ever mile is a mile south, unlike Georgia where a mile might only get you a few thousand yards further south. However, the Florida boat traffic is unbelievable. And, the boater etiquette that we experienced on the ICW further north, disappeared completely once we reached Florida, turning things into a wild west show on water.
The boat traffic was annoying everywhere, however our passage through Jupiter was, according to our log notes, “a gong show of speedboats, jet skis and big cruisers”. The situation on the water were on a whole new level of crazy. Some of these boats would throw up a 3 foot or more wake, tossing us around in all directions. Others seemed to deliberately divert course and come uncomfortably close to colliding with us. Aside from the obvious dangers, I was also left wondering what all these waves we doing to the unprotected parts of the shoreline. It was a constant churn.
We had just survived passing through Jupiter, when we started through the first of 7 bridges that we would need to time exactly right, otherwise we would have to wait 30 minutes for the next opening. Missing one wasn’t a big deal, but miss 4 or more of them and, we are at risk of arriving in the dark, which we didn’t want to do. At one point sv Astrid came on the radio and informed us that if we didn’t average 6.5 knots per hour, we would not make the next bridge. Thankfully the current helped us along.
We arrived in North Palm Beach at mid afternoon. A group of 6-8 boats had just left earlier that day to cross to the Bahamas so we luckily had plenty of space to anchor. We were also happy to see that several other boats, including a number from Canada, were still here. Not only were we hoping to have some company over Christmas, but we were also looking for buddy boats to coordinate with for our Bahamas crossing.
While there are decorated palm trees and Christmas Lights surrounding the anchorage, it doesn’t feel very much like Christmas in North Palm Beach. Something about warm weather, people off boating and kids water skiing doesn't scream "Happy Holidays to lifetime Canadians". We spent the rest of the afternoon being constantly rocked from the wakes off of passing water ski boats. I suppose there would be kids in Canada spending Christmas break on the ski hill, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to see many kids enjoying themselves on the water.
North Palm Beach, as the name implies lies on the northern end of Lake Worth. The Lake is surrounded by high rises and expensive homes. Just to the east of where we were anchored was the John D. MacArthur Beach State Park, an eco-friendly park, complete with nature trails and picnic facilities, a nature center and more. While it was easily accessible by water, motorized vessels were not permitted within the park boundaries and so getting there in the dinghy wasn't an option.
Every indication was that North Palm Beach was a fairly affluent neighborhood. Predominately white, it was home to a number of famous people, including: Michael Douglas (actor); Jack Nicholas (golfer); Ryan Klesko (baseball player); Elin Nordegren, (model and the ex-wife of golfer Tiger Woods); Chris Cline, (coal mining billionaire), and Larry Ellison (co-founder of Oracle Corporation). Needless to say, there were lots of gated communities.
The next morning we dinghied into a bridge on Jack Nicholas Drive that serves as the unofficial dinghy dock for cruisers. Basically a muddy landing next to the bridge. Despite there being thousands of boats in North Palm Beach and Palm Beach in general, this is not a cruiser friendly place. The marinas have multiple signs warning cruisers to stay off the premises and police visits to boats on anchor are frequent. Despite the lack of hospitality from the local residents, West Marine, Publix, banks and other services are all within easy walking distance of the “dinghy landing”.
Like many places in the south, there are a lot of full time live aboards in the anchorages. More often than not, they are on derelict boats that are still floating but never move and, the boats' occupants all seen to suffer from some economic or mental hardship. There was one liveaboard who seemed to be around the “dingy landing” a lot, warning cruisers to mind his tender and not to foul his stern anchor. His tender looked like it was going to sink at any moment, as did his floating home. He informed us that he used to work for the CIA, although he didn’t divulge the specifics of what his role was there.
We made our way up to the Publix store to pick up supplies for our Christmas dinner. Not surprisingly, the place was packed. And while the crowds made it feel like Christmas grocery shopping at home, it felt strange to be walking around in shorts and flip flops and watching people load up on crab legs, lobster tails and other fresh seafood. A month ago, the stores were full of turkeys on Thanksgiving, but we struggled to find a turkey breast for our Christmas dinner.
Judy spent the rest of the day making Almond Rocca which she made up in small packages and attached our boat card. Our friend Anne LeLacheur supplied the recipe and motivation for the treat! On Christmas Eve morning, we dinghied around the anchorage delivering treats to some of the other boats, including: Ted and Evelyn from the Toronto area on Sensai, a Benneteau 42; Rachael and Tony from Windsor Ontario on Bluebird a Catalina 37; Steve from the Ottawa area on Lola, a Alberg 37; Paul and Johanne from Montreal on Novynik, a 60 foot ferro cement ketch; and a young couple and their son who were on their way snorkeling who were organic vegetable farmers from North Dakota.
We were missing family back home a lot. However, it was a real treat to be able to connect with family in Peterborough for a video chat on Christmas Eve later in the evening.
It was weird celebrating Christmas on the boat, however Judy did a fabulous job of making it feel festive. We had our pine cone tree, and ribbons and lights decorating the outside of Elizabeth M. We treated ourselves to homemade pancakes for breakfast, a charcuterie board for lunch and a fantastic turkey dinner for supper. We also got to video chat with Mom and the rest of our family on both coasts on Christmas day, which was very special.
We were surprised to see businesses operating as normal on Boxing Day. Everything seemed to be open and there was no hint that it was the day after Christmas. Blue Jazz arrived on Tuesday and so Judy made up a turkey stew and invited Daniel for supper. We first met Daniel in Annapolis and got separated after our first day on the ICW and haven’t seen him since. We have stayed in touch the whole time however and it was good to catch up and talk about our upcoming plans for the Bahamas.
Paul from Novynik dinghied over and invited us over for drinks before supper. He knew Daniel and was familiar with Blue Jazz having sailed with its previous owner on Lake Champlain. Paul and Johanne are the type of people who instantly make you feel at home. They welcomed us onto their boat, which in addition to be very unique, is a nautical museum. Paul shared stories about his grandfather’s spy glass and the ship’s compass.
The compass was originally built in Boston. When Paul contacted the company, they said the compass was sold in Halifax. Traditionally, the ship’s name would be inscribed on the compass when it sold, although in Paul’s case, there were no identifying markings. When he questioned why, he was told that in all likelihood, the purchaser didn’t want to be identified. His speculation was they were likely involved in rum running. Not only did this compass have a interesting history, it was a piece of art and came in its own wooden case.
We kept ourselves busy through the week making sure we were ready to leave when a weather window opened. We did some last minute shopping, and made multiple trips to the bank and West Marine. We also started to discuss crossing plans with a few other boats in the anchorage, including Sensai and Blue Jazz. Our plan was to leave the anchorage an hour before slack tide at the Lake Worth Inlet, and head towards Lucaya which is just east of Freeport on Grand Bahama Island, where we could check in and arrange to get our Bahamian SIM cards.
On one of our daily trips into North Palm Beach, we heard a familiar voice across the street. Jay and Lesli from mv NoMastE, had just arrived. We had last run into them back in Port Washington, NY. Jay had been single handing the boat since Lesli left to go back to Maine, after they came through New York City. Lesli recently rejoined Jay and like us they were preparing to cross to the Bahamas but they were waiting for crew to join them so we won't be crossing together. We spent a wonderful night catching up and nibbling on a selection of cheeses from around the world.
Whether it was just coincidence or not, but the day before a potential crossing weather window, a boat went through the anchorage at 07h30 announcing that there would be a fuel barge at Peanut Island later in that day. They apparently had the cheapest fuel prices around, at $4.50 a gallon.
It looked like we had our weather window for New Year’s Eve. The plan was to leave on Saturday, December 31st at 16h30. We did our final grocery run, picking up fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and cheeses. We topped up our water and fuel tanks and went about turning our boat back into a sailboat from being a floating home for the past week or more.
We joined Paul. Johanne and Daniel on the deck of Novynik for our last evening in North Palm Beach. Paul entertained us with stories from his youth and his travels. He also got the charts for the Bahamas out and shared some of his favorite spots with us. It was the perfect way to end our time here, having a few laughs with new friends and sharing sailing stories as we watched the sun go down. Paul and Johanne were staying behind to finish some repairs to their boat, but we sure hope we see them again.
One last check of the weather from a weather service we subscribe to confirmed our crossing plans to for tomorrow. We would be arriving in the Bahamas on New Year’s Day, 2023! We were excited to say the least, although it wasn't all smooth sailing as we had hoped.
But more about that, next time.
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